Sinclair QL.

KIA

In a message of 04 Sep 05 Ivan Kuvshinov wrote to All:

IK> By the way, yesterday I spoke with a person who has this
IK> computer at home, which is mythical for many. I would say - the legend of an unfulfilled dream. :-) There is an opportunity to get information first-hand, I promised
IK> to describe everything that will be of interest to people. Ask.

Which nafik is a legend and which nafik is a dream? Even a brief glance at the performance characteristics
is enough to draw conclusions. Even compared to Atari St, he is like
Radiork86 compared to Commodore64.

Bye...

“In the end, I chose the Sinclair QL, which
many of you, in your youth,
may not have heard of. Therefore, I
will briefly recall its history. Sinclair was one of the first 32-bit machines in the home market. Sir Clive Sinclair, the company's founder, is a sort of British Steve.Wozniak
(Steve Wosniak is one of
the creators of the Mackintosh. - Approx. per). He
released computer kits
that were sold in America under the
name Timex. The watch
company Timex imported Sinclair's computer equipment and sold it in
America under the same name as the watch.
Before Sinclair sold
complete computers, he supplied these
kits.

Sinclair had an operating system
Q-DOS. Then I knew her like the back of my hand. It was written for this particular computer. For those times
it had quite advanced BASIC
and very good graphics. Most of all
I liked its multitasking:
it was possible to run
several programs at the same time. True, this did not apply to BASIC - it was
impossible to run
more than one program in BASIC. But for assembly language programs, it was possible to arrange for the operating system to create a schedule and divide the time into periods - as a result, several programs were running simultaneously. This computer was equipped with a 68008 chip with a frequency of 8 megahertz - the second and cheaper version of the 68000 chip from Motorola. The first generation of 68000 chips
worked internally with 32 bits, but communicated with
everything outside the CPU (central
processing unit), such as memory or
expansion modulesvia
16-bit interface. Since only 16 bits were loaded from memory at a time, 16-bit operations were often faster than 32-bit operations. This
architecture was wildly
popular; it is still
used in many embedded
devices and in cars. These are different
chips, but they have the same architecture. The
68008 chip that was in my computer
used an 8-bit, not a 16-bit
interface to communicate with the outside world (outside the CPU). But while exchanging eight-bit fragments with the outside
world, it
internally remained 32-bit.
So it was
much more pleasant to program.

It had 128 kilobytes (not megabytes)
of memory, which was a lot
of memory for a home computer at that time. The VIC-20,
which it replaced, had only
three and a half kilobytes. And since
it was 32-bit, there were
no problems with memory access,
which was completely unheard of back then.
That's why I wanted to buy this
computer. It had interesting
technology and I liked the CPU.

At first I wanted to buy it at a discount at a
friend's store. But
then I would have to wait a very long time
for its delivery, so I just moved to
Akademiska Bukhandeln - the largest
bookstore in Helsinki, where there was also a
computer department. That's where I bought my
computer -got it straight into my hands.

It cost about two thousand dollars.
It used to be a rule that all
entry-level computers cost
two thousand. Everything has changed just in the last couple of years. Now you can
buy a new PC for $500. It's like
with cars. Nobody makes
cars cheaper than ten thousand
dollars. Starting from a certain amount,
there is no point in reducing the price. Of course,
you can make a car that
sells for seven thousand, but
automakers believe that someone
who has seven thousand to spend on a car will
be more willing to pay ten
for a more sophisticated model: with
air conditioning and all that included.
Entry-level models this year
cost about the same as
they cost fifteen years ago. And if
taking into account inflation, maybe a little less.
But they are much better."

http://www.linuxshop.ru/linuxbegin/article85.html

KIA

He, it was me. )

DA> processor for working with the keyboard,
DA> sound synthesis and partly, working with
IK> The sound there is quite peculiar, I don’t even
know how this is explained.
Yes, there is a peculiarity of sound. But this
is connected with an attempt to make the computer
cheaper. The most interesting thing is that the sound
is generated in parallel with
the execution of the program. Here's what the command
BEEP
sound BEEP activates the inbuilt sound functions on the QL BEEP can
accept a variable
number of parameters to give various levels of control over the sound
produced The
minimum specification requires only a duration and pitch to be
specified BEEP used
with no parameters will kill any sound being generated
syntax duration- = numeric expression (range -32768 32767]
pitch = numeric expression [range 0 255]
grad_x = numeric expression (range -32768 32767J
grad_y = numeric expression [range -8 7]
wrap = numenc_expression (range 0 15J
fuzzy = numeric expression [range 0 15}
random = numeric expression [range 0 15]

duration - specifies the duration of the sound in units of 72
microseconds A duration of zero will run the sound until
terminated by another BEEP command

pitch -specifies the pitch of the sound A pitch of 1 is high and 255
is low
pitch_2 - specifies an second pitch level between which the sound will
'bounce'
grad x - defines the time interval between pitch steps
grad y - defines the size of each step grad_x and grad y
control the rate at which the pitch bounces between levels
wrap - will force the sound to wrap around the specified number of
times If wrap is equal to 15 the sound will wrap around forever
fuzzy - defines the amount of fuzzmess to be added to the sound
random - defines the amount of randomness to be added to the sound

05 Sep 05 00:36, Ivan Kuvshinov -> All:

IK> By the way, yesterday I spoke with a person who has this
IK> computer at home, which is mythical for many. I would say - the legend of an unfulfilled dream.
IK> :-) There is an opportunity to get information first-hand, I promised to describe everything that
IK> will be interesting to people. Ask.

Get this person out to the “sysopnik”, we’ll ask there :).

With the best - Wlodek # wlblack(@)newmail.ru # http://wlodeks.narod.ru
[ZX] [500:95/462@ZXNet] [2:5016 Forever] [Golyanovo] [Old Russians]

IK> This would also be said about the ZX itself.. :(

And so it is - better than Radiork86, but in most respects
doesn’t reach Komoduri. The main advantage over Komoduri is a faster processor. And
I must say, they managed to take advantage of this advantage to the fullest. But
if only the Z80@3.5 MHz processor was in Komoduri (and without memory brakes whatever)... Eh.

Bye...

In a message of 05 Sep 05 Dimitry Archangelsky wrote to me:

DA> In fact, you cannot compare QL and
DA> later models from other companies. This
DA> computer was conceived as the older
DA> brother in the ZX line in 1982. Prototypes of
DA> appeared in mid-83rd, and release in
DA> in 1984.

That's right - and in 85th the thousandth Amiga appeared! On the same 68k, it should be
noted.

DA> A STEP forward is the appearance of another processor for working with
DA> keyboard, sound synthesis and partially working with ports.

Oh, well, just don’t call the 48th single-crystal a “separate processor”.
And then I will say that in the PC there was a step forward - the same controller (which
received data from the keyboard, and even from the same 48th family)! Well, they hung up a beeper - well, yes, it’s commendable. The only commendable thing is that the beeper
was 1-bit and remains the same.

DA> Almost all the rest of the
DA> hardware, video controller and
DA> memory controller are in custom-made chips.

Why, this is a great achievement, since the time of the 48th rubber band! =)

DA> In addition, there are two drives on board
DA> circular magnetic tape MicroDrive
DA> with a capacity of 100 kB each. And all this cost
DA> a little more than the usual ZX Spectrum.
DA> Atari ST appeared in 1985. When QL was
DA> alreadyabout 25 thousand were sold.
DA> It is clear that this machine had more
DA> memory, improved graphics and sound. But
DA> it cost as much as two QL.

DA> I think that everyone will be interested
DA> the opinion of such a person as Linus
DA> Torvalds.

The opinion is not interesting. The information is interesting - that there was a multitasking axis.
This is commendable (for the S QL).

And yet:

DA> This computer was equipped with a
DA> 68008 chip with a frequency of 8 megahertz - the second and
DA> cheaper version of the 68000 chip from
DA> Motorola. The first generation of 68000
DA> chips worked internally with 32 bits,

But as can be seen from the temporary work, internally they worked with 16-bit data, but with
32-bit registers. (example: add.b d0,d1 and add.w d0,d1 - 4 measures, add.l
d0,d1 - 6 measures). So it’s still 16 bits, but with a very competent model
that made it possible to perform a completely transparent expansion to 32 bits, and to completely avoid the insanity of Intel (ax-eax).

DA> It had 128 kilobytes (not megabytes)
DA> of memory, which at that time was very
DA> a lot for a home computer. The VIC-20,
DA> which it replaced, had only
DA> three and a half kilobytes.

Who replaced the vic-20?

DA> It cost about two thousand dollars.

Strange, but zxnext.narod.ru says the price is less than 400 pounds - what There's no way
it's worth 2000 dollars!

Bye...

VA> It’s strange, but zxnext.narod.ru says the price is less than 400 pounds - which
VA> is not worth 2000 dollars!

[Sinclair QL:]
Firstly, I have a feeling that in those days a pound cost like
two and a half dollars, secondly, even if I’m wrong, that’s how much
it could have cost either on the secondary market, or on stocks and sales,
already in late 80s early 90s. These machines (like the Atari, Commodore
-64, came to us, including from Poland, Finland and Czechoslovakia.

And yet, if the 48th branded spec in England in the basic delivery
cost about 40 pounds, then the QL for 400 pounds is not “not much
more expensive,” but still, an order of magnitude...

In general terms - for a professional PC - the machine is too poor
(if you do not develop peripherals, but use
the basic one),
for a household one - too expensive (in those days).

... ... FLOWERS ARE SALED HERE ,BUT I'M DOESN'T SMOKE ;-)))